Photo: Shahnoor Habib Munmun · CC BY 3.0January in Portage la Prairie bites harder than in 86% of Canadian towns
July afternoons average 25.4°C. Counting rain and snow together, it is drier than 76% of Canadian towns. Expect the most rain and snow in June and the least in February. Comfortable outdoor weather lasts from June to August, with highs of 23–25°C.
Read at Portage Southport, 8.1 km south: ECCC’s normals for 1991–2020.
A year in Portage la Prairie at a glance
Each month’s typical high and low, in °C.
What stands out about Portage la Prairie’s climate
Compared with Canadian towns, with its place among towns of 2,500+ in Manitoba beside it.
What a year in Portage la Prairie feels like
Typical highs and lows by season and by month, from ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals.
184 frost days and 105 days above 20°C a year
The frost season runs October to May, and January freezes nearly every night. Some 42 nights a year drop under −20°C.
Frost days by month
Average days at 0°C or below
Days above 20°C by month
Average days
Rain and melted snow: about 493 mm a year
About 82 days a year bring 1 mm or more.
Rain and snow by month
Millimetres
137 cm of snow in a typical year
Snow falls from October to May, most of all in December (about 34 cm). 9th snowiest of 187 towns of 2,500+ in Manitoba.
Snowfall by month
Centimetres
Snowfall: Cypress River, 74 km away (Portage Southport records no complete year of it).
Heating a home in Portage la Prairie
91% of a year’s heating need falls between October and April. Months averaging under 10°C: October to April.
Behind the figure: the degrees each day’s mean falls under 18°C, summed for the year. In heating terms, homes need more heating than 83% of Canadian towns.
Living with Portage la Prairie’s climate
What the normals mean for a garden, a day outside and the depth of winter.
A normal year gives the garden about 130 frost-free days, roughly 19 May to 28 September.
The comfortable months for a day outside, highs of 17–27°C and nights of 8°C or more: Jun, Jul and Aug.
Parks & trails →Frostbite weather, a wind chill under −20, turns up on about 77 days a year.
About 38 days a year turn sultry, with the humidex past 30.
Thirty years of averages say little about one bad storm; Portage la Prairie’s hazards page does.
Flood & hazards →ECCC’s normals location: Portage Southport
Behind the 1991–2020 normals for Portage Southport are 2 stations, which ECCC combines into one record.
| Distance from the town | 8.1 km south |
| Station altitude | 270 m |
| Completeness | meets the WMO “3 and 5” rule |
| WMO standard normals | No |
| Snowfall from | Cypress River, 74 km |
| Coldest reading, 1991–2020 | −39.8°C |
| Hottest reading, 1991–2020 | 37.8°C |
| Average wind | 13.7 km/h on average, most often from the north-west |
| Next-nearest location | Cypress River, 74 km |
How Portage la Prairie compares
Compared with 2,611 towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500 or more across Canada; the dots mark the other normals locations in Manitoba.
Nearby towns’ climate
Nearby places read from a different ECCC location (places on Portage la Prairie’s own would show the same figures). No closer places have figures: these lie 48–55 km from Portage la Prairie.
| Town | July high | January low | Rain & snow |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portage la Prairie Portage Southport | 25.4°C | −19.1°C | 493 mm |
| Norfolk-Treherne 48 km · Cypress River | 25.9°C 0.5°C warmer | −20.1°C 1.0°C colder | 517 mm |
| Dufferin 49 km · Morden | 25.6°C about the same | −18.5°C 0.6°C milder | 528 mm |
| Woodlands 54 km · Winnipeg Richardson (Airport) | 25.8°C about the same | −21.2°C 2.1°C colder | 519 mm |
Portage la Prairie weather by month
Each month’s normals, 1991–2020: high, low, mean, precipitation and snowfall.
| Month | High | Low | Mean | Rain & snow | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | −10.0°C | −19.1°C | −14.6°C | 18 mm | 23 cm |
| February | −7.7°C | −17.4°C | −12.6°C | 17 mm | 18 cm |
| March | −0.6°C | −10.2°C | −5.5°C | 30 mm | 16 cm |
| April | 9.7°C | −1.9°C | 4.0°C | 37 mm | 11 cm |
| May | 17.4°C | 5.1°C | 11.3°C | 65 mm | 6 cm |
| June | 22.5°C | 11.4°C | 16.9°C | 80 mm | 0 cm |
| July | 25.4°C | 14.2°C | 19.8°C | 62 mm | 0 cm |
| August | 24.8°C | 12.6°C | 18.7°C | 51 mm | 0 cm |
| September | 19.3°C | 7.7°C | 13.5°C | 48 mm | under 1 cm |
| October | 10.6°C | 0.7°C | 5.7°C | 41 mm | 8 cm |
| November | 0.3°C | −8.1°C | −3.9°C | 25 mm | 22 cm |
| December | −7.3°C | −15.7°C | −11.5°C | 20 mm | 34 cm |
| Year | 8.7°C | −1.7°C | 3.5°C | 493 mm | 137 cm |
The most changeable month: December, give or take 4.1°C; the steadiest, July
Bars run from each month’s record low to its record high since 1991. March spans the most, from −34.0°C (2003) to 24.6°C (2012).
Where Portage la Prairie’s numbers come from
Averages over 30 years, not a forecast.
- Normals: the 1991–2020 Canadian Climate Normals at Portage Southport, the closest ECCC location with twelve months of temperature normals.
- Other locations: where a location publishes no full year of precipitation or snowfall, the nearest one that does supplies it, named beside those figures.
- Comparisons: the towns and neighbourhoods of 2,500+ across Canada, each on its nearest normals location, without the city totals or the reserves.
- Not on this page: a sunshine figure (ECCC published none for 1991–2020) and any lapse-rate correction for height, as the town has no elevation here.
Canadian Climate Normals 1991–2020 · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence. Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada
Questions about Portage la Prairie’s climate
How warm does Portage la Prairie get in summer?
Summer peaks in July: a typical afternoon reaches 25.4°C.
How cold does Portage la Prairie get in winter?
Lows sink to −19.1°C on an average January night.
How much rain and snow does Portage la Prairie get?
Rain and snow add up to about 493 mm of water a year; June brings the most (80 mm), February the least (17 mm).
Are these figures for Portage la Prairie itself?
Close to it: they are ECCC’s 1991–2020 normals for Portage Southport, just outside Portage la Prairie’s boundary.
Data Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada · ECCC Data Services End-use Licence Today’s forecast for Portage la Prairie →
Adapted from Statistics Canada (Census of Population 2021, population estimates 2025, 2021 census boundaries) under the Statistics Canada Open Licence; this does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada. Neighbourhood names in some cities © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).